Ships Pirate ship and APA/PA secondaries?

Noobilite · Feb 2, 2020

I'm currently using this pirate ship. I have plasma slug on the PA/APA's atm. Trying to figure what to change them over too. I know some of the things take 5 seconds to tick. Or they did at some point in the game. It seems confusing.

I'm assuming the best secondaries are lockbreaker, Dazzle Shell, and Dispersal Field. Not sure if this is true. What secondaries are best for a 4A PA and two APA's? They are both efficient.

Is the lockbreaker the best one to have on the 4 second 4PA shot? I'm trying to figure which ones are best to use for which weapons. does it have a 5 second cooldown now? I'm woefully unfamiliar with secondaries besides plasma slug.

2. Am i better off with that 5D module protection or should I add a second hull reinforcement? if I added one it would be a Heavy Duty Angled Plating to make an omni armor.(I already have it engineered.) I've noticed my shields are just enough to do most pirating stuff. But it's pretty close by the end of any single instance. Never quite understood the reason for one over the other besides surface protection. Doesn't help I always do shield tanking.

I'm primarily hunting diamonds in anarchy systems. I don't really ever loose shields so I'm not sure which route is best. I don't think I have the spare energy for SCB either.

Dunkel Reynolds · Feb 7, 2020

You shouldn't need SCB or the hull/module reinforcement. If it comes down to that kind of fight, you're doing pirate wrong.

Noobilite · Feb 7, 2020

I'm doing mostly shields, but I'm out of electricity and my shields come down to the line if an anaconda warps in to help. I was fighting off friends a little with bigger tankers. I wasn't sure what was better if my shields did finally go down. I have almost no experience with hull fighting.

Plus the armor and stuff are in the military slots.

What I'm really not sure on is how to spread secondaries amongst the 3 apa's.

I'm now using this, and the PA/APA's have plasma slug on them. I'm trying to figure out what to put on them as far as secondaries go. And which ones to put which secondaries. I'm assuming I want to pick between target lock breaker, Dispersal Field, and Dazzle Shell. I've heard TLB and one of them might work together well. But I"m not sure which one to but on which weapon. I have the 4 second 4A PA and the 2 3B 1.2 second APA's. Would TLB be extended by Dazzle Shell or Dispersal Field. And does TLB reset it's Cooldown each hit and hence usable on the 4A PA or do I want it on a faster firing APA?

This is mostly for NPC piracy, but I'm wondering if any of the supposed stuff for PVP also works on PVE.

Dunkel Reynolds · Feb 7, 2020

PvP and PvE piracy are two different animals. PvE piracy isn't that complex. You can make it more complex if you just want to have fun with it, but honestly, simple can be successful.

I run a pair of large pulse lasers for shields and a pair of medium seeker missiles for modules/weapons/drives and that's it. My largest internal slot is for cargo. It's about speed and getting as much cargo into the hold as you can. If the cops show up, run. If the escort is more than a Sidewinder or an Eagle, don't engage. The combat should be brutal, brief, and distinctly one sided.

PvP and pirating players is another matter altogether and you'll have to get advice from someone else on that.

Rebel Yell · Feb 7, 2020

PvP piracy?

Never use PAs/APAs unless you're going to rob a Cutter or for defend your wingmates from bounty hunters or white knighs.

Cargo ships have low shields and low hulls, so using alpha strike builds with PAs (bit less with APAs) may destroy your target whilst what you really need it to disable / incapacitate it. So all you need is lazors / incendiary MCs for the shields, a drag seeker of frag to slow the client (this can be added as exp to packhounds too) or rails for disable drives.

Consider also you may need grom bombs to disrupt FSD...

...and REMOVE KWS!!! We kill on sight any ship equipped with KWS!!!

Noobilite · Feb 8, 2020

I'm trying to figure out the nature of those three secondaries. Dazzle Shell, Dispersal Field, and Target lock break?

What CD exists if any on those skills.

1. TLB has a 5 second CD.
2. If you hit again within that CD does it igore it and keep counting to 5 or does it refresh the CD?

Basiclaly, the same for the other two. I'm not sure which goes best on either. Would anything besides TLB have a longer CD to go on the 4A? Or have an effect that long?

I've been doing testing, but it's hard to notice while flying. Let alone time.

SergMx · Feb 8, 2020

Noobilite said:
I'm trying to figure out the nature of those three secondaries. Dazzle Shell, Dispersal Field, and Target lock break?

What CD exists if any on those skills.

1. TLB has a 5 second CD.
2. If you hit again within that CD does it igore it and keep counting to 5 or does it refresh the CD?

Basiclaly, the same for the other two. I'm not sure which goes best on either. Would anything besides TLB have a longer CD to go on the 4A? Or have an effect that long?

I've been doing testing, but it's hard to notice while flying. Let alone time.

Sorry that it’s not quite a topic. For me, TLB is the most useless effect in the game.
1. It is easy to press the target in front, the nearest dangerous target, the next enemy target.
2. The NPC doesn't give a damn about it since the computer presses it right away.
3. The third turret mode doesn’t give a damn about hitting the target.

Rebel Yell · Feb 8, 2020

For PvP:

TLB on consoles could be helpful because we have no macro to target modules (against seekers), also in wing fights may prompt ships to lose their target (i.e. if a wing is focusing on a single ship you need some time to cycle ships to find it again).

Dazzle is useless unless you're willing to hide a torpedo boat from enemy sensors.

Dispersal field is useful against gimbals/turrets, useless if your enemy has fixed hardpoints.

SergMx · Feb 8, 2020

Rebel Yell said:
For PvP:

TLB on consoles could be helpful because we have no macro to target modules (against seekers), also in wing fights may prompt ships to lose their target (i.e. if a wing is focusing on a single ship you need some time to cycle ships to find it again).

Dazzle is useless unless you're willing to hide a torpedo boat from enemy sensors.

Dispersal field is useful against gimbals/turrets, useless if your enemy has fixed hardpoints.

I don’t know how to play on consoles, but I often play using the gamepad only. And I do not have a macro program. By default:
(A) - my target capture
is one key
(A)+(D-Pad)DOWN the dangerous enemy
(A)+(D-Pad)RIGHT the next enemy ship
(A)+(D-Pad)LEFT the next target
are just 2 keys pressed.